Agreeing to sign changes recommended by the Cobb County Planning and Zoning Commission, Cobb commissioners voted 5-0 Tuesday to not specify sign fees in the county code but to cap sign penalty fees at $1,000.
Previously, the Cobb Community Development Agency had announced changes to sign permit fees would take effect on Oct. 1 - even before Tuesday’s final public hearing and vote by the Cobb County Board of Commissioners for this code amendment.
Penalty fees will be imposed on those who begin work on a sign before securing the sign permits or if exceeding the scope of work authorized by the permits.
Those penalty fees would equal the permit fees and can be no higher than $1,000, not counting the required sign permit fees, according to Section 134-375 in the county code.
County commissioners now will need to approve a fee schedule for sign permits. It will be available in the offices of the county clerk and the Cobb Community Development Agency but will not be contained in the county code.
For now, the signage fee structure varies from $50 to $1,000 and one percent of the sign construction cost over $1,000.
The county commissioners decided Tuesday against allowing code changes to sign permit fees that would have been $50 for up to 50 square feet, $100 for between 51 and 100 square feet, $200 for between 101 and 150 square feet, $300 for between 151 square feet or more and an additional 75 cents per square foot for the second side of a double-faced sign.
About the Author
